This manual is a vivisection of the life of our church. It represents
a distinguishing feature of our Lord's Day services. As we have sought
to employ the Word of God to guide us in worship, the patterns that have
emerged fill this source book.

It is my earnest desire that we see a revival of the Psalms in congregational
worship and the focus of worship be Bible-based rather than emotionally
driven. I would not want to be misunderstood as disparaging emotionally
vibrant praise, prayer, and worship. Far from it! Only that our vision
of the Lord as He truly is becomes the cause of our emotional expression.
Where better may we learn to give heart praise to God than from the ancient
inspired worshipers in the Psalms. Worshiping according to the Word is
the only sure path to a transparent experience before God in the assembly
of His people. By using the Word as the guide, "score," or "blueprint"
of our service, we are sure to invoke the presence of the Spirit. It is
my conviction that until the church seeks to worship God on the basis of
His Word in spirit and truth, we will be driven by endless tyranical extremes.

...With all the attention on "new forms" of worship in the modern church,
little reclaiming of the riches of the Psalms in their fulness has yet
been realized. On a limited scale the Psalms are sung in the cadences of
the old psalters. In a previous generation, public worship almost always
included a "responsive reading" from the book of Psalms. More recently,
countless choruses have centred on a repetition in song of one verse, or
even one phrase, of one psalm. But the full-orbed testimony of the Psalter,
as it touches every possible experience of weal and woe in the life of
God's people has not found a voice in the current worship of the church.
(1)

I pray that this resource aid the people of God in reclaiming "regulative
worship" (2) and making the Psalms our Book
of Common Praise, that by the Son of God, in the power of the Spirit of
God, according to the Word of God, they might give glory and acceptable
worship to the most holy and majestic triune God.
(3)

For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God
and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. (Philippians
3:3)

Introduction

The Concerts of Praise in this book, while not including the sermon
information, are substantially what we have used for the past five years
in our 10:00 a.m. Family Worship Hour at Audubon Drive Bible Church, Laurel,
MS. We have repeated many of these services with variations and many others
were not included in this first list of Concerts of Praise. What is presented
here, unpolished as they may be, are worship "scores" as they have been
developed for use in our congregation. I have collated them with very little
editing. It will be clear to the reader that when these are exported to
other congregations some adaptations may be needed. It will also be clear
that the order in which they are presented in this book was not the original
order as used in the congregation. It appears that there are many repetitions
in the song selections; however, in the actual order in which these were
developed the repetition of songs within a year was very minimal.

When we have had soloists or ensembles included in the service I have
left the information. I have done so for several reasons: (a) to maintain,
as much as possible, our actual blueprints for services, (b) to permit
the original flow of the service to be seen, but most importantly (c) to
illustrate the place of such music in the congregation -- to "teach and
admonish one another" (Col. 3:16) or "speak to one another" (Eph. 5:19)
with music in accordance with the Word in the assembly. The new songs that
have originated in our congregation, for our congregation, are also included.
(4)

The hymn numbers are keyed to the Trinity Hymnal (Great Commission:
Atlanta/Philadelphia, 1961), the hymnal we use in the congregation and
in parentheses () the Hymnal for Worship and Celebration (Word:
Dallas, 1986), the hymnal that our musicians use for many of the songs
not in the Trinity Hymnal. Unfortunately, there is no one source
for many of the praise choruses. I suggest as sources the following: the
songbook series Praise Worship (Hosanna's Integrity Music, 1987;
vol 1, et al) and the 2nd Edition, Praise! Chorus Book (Maranatha!
Music, 1990). I have removed the copyrighted song texts from this publication
because of copyright infringement. It is our current practice to print
the text of all the songs not in the hymnal in the Sunday bulletin and
to display them on the overhead. To facilitate this I have developed a
database of song texts. For copyrighted songs (for use in the congregation)
we are very thankful for the service of the Christian Copyright License,
Inc. (5) by which we can print and display
songs and credit the writers.

Principles of the Concert of Praise

It is a concert, (6) thus it is an
orchestrated
plan for the assembly. It includes planned aspects and spontaneous
aspects, e.g., times open for the general congregation to give thanks,
pray, praise, and stimulate one another to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24-25).

Since it is a concert, it has a "score." Because we should
worship God by His own prescriptions, it should be organized around a Psalm,
biblical passage pointing us to God, or a biblical theme (God's power,
the Cross, the Resurrection, etc.) which has its foundation in biblical
passages. All of these themes should be Christocentric in their interpretation
since we have God's full score of revelation culminating in the Word Incarnate.

As a concert, it involves the members of the Body (I Cor.
14) like an orchestra in participation. The "parts" can be planned in a
written order of service and each member can participate at the appropriate
time (e.g., Scripture reading, prayer, teaching/sharing from the Word,
music).

Just as an orchestral concert involves a conductor, so a Concert
of Praise must be directed. Such direction involves planning, delegating
and leading. It is important to receive leadership and congregational affirmation
of the service(s).

It is a concert and so it moves through themes and sections
of praise. An appropriate goal would be to cover all of the major Scriptural
topics and Psalms relevant to praise over several years. It is effective
to coordinate the thematic content of a Concert of Praise with the teaching
ministry of the church (especially, preaching).

A Concert of Praise flows well from many of the Psalms since
they are inspired worship directives. Many Psalms tell us how, when, and
why to praise God; therefore, we may appropriately respond in congregational
worship. For example, using Psalm 100, we may respond to "Come before Him
with joyful singing" by singing a medley of songs with joy and gladness.
Congregational responses to the Word can vary as long as our responses
have biblical warrant and are aimed at the exaltation of God and the edification
of the congregation.

Concerts of praise are to be focused on God and not ourselves.
Keeping this concept in mind helps the worship leader and the congregation
avoid many misplaced emphases in worship. The Bible distinguishes two categorical
motivations for our praise of God: Psalm 150:2 says, "Praise Him for His
mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness." Therefore,
praise should be directed at who God is and what He has done.

Using the Concert of Praise Format

Principally, the Concert of Praise format applies Sola Scriptura
(the
Scripture alone [as authoritative]) to the worship service. It can be distilled
in the phrase, "worshiping God according to His Word." This means letting
the Word be the principal content in worship. Thus, as the Scripture is
proclaimed, the congregation responds according to the Word in praise and
prayer.

Practically, several formats have emerged in our congregation over
the past few years in using Concerts of Praise:

The most basic format is based on a Psalm. The Psalm is divided into (usually)
three sections which are titled with a thematic outline. It begins with
a responsive reading of the first section of the Psalm and is followed
by a medley of praise songs. Following the opening set of songs, the leader
prays in praise to formally acknowledge being in the presence of the Lord
with His people. After the second section of the Psalm is read (usually
by an appointed member of the congregation), I try to utilize a metrical
version of the Psalm or a song/hymn which is based in the Psalm. Finally,
the third section is followed by more worshipful songs which compliment
the content. Then, a time of sharing and prayer (biblical, "giving thanks")
or the Lord's Supper concludes the Concert of Praise. For selected examples
see Psalm 15 (p. 4) and Psalm 95 (p. 15).

The second kind of Concert of Praise is based on a biblical theme. It follows
a similar structure as discussed above. However, selected passages are
chosen to give a full comment on the biblical theme. For selected examples
see "Thine is the Kingdom" (p. 82) and "A Celebration of the Gospel" (p.
80).

The third type is usually entitled a "Concert of Prayer." They may be based
on a Psalm or a biblical theme, but have planned opportunities for prayer
according to the Word, indicated by bullets (). For selected examples see
Psalm 80 (p. 22) and "Give Us Our Daily Bread" (p. 66).

The fourth type of Concert of Praise is what I entitle a "dramatic reading."
It involves a passage of Scripture which has several speakers (readers)
to dramatically read the parts, almost as the characters. The congregation
responds in praise and prayer at appropriate times. For example, see "I
Saw the Lord" (from Isaiah 6:1-8) (p. 104) and "King of Kings and Lord
of Lords" (from Revelation 19:7-16) (p. 88). An expanded form of this with
more theological content is "The Five Cries of the Reformation" (p. 74).

Musically, consider developing and using the following:

Develop sequences of songs which emotionally-musically compliment the Word.
Thus, I try to think of the "mood" (for lack of a better term) of the songs
in there relation to the message of the Scripture. Some common movements
in the emotional message of the music are from "up tempo" to slow and worshipful;
from a majestic kind of "objective" praise to a more adorational personal
praise; from light and happy praise to that which is deeper and confessional.

Use medleys of musically compatible songs to help people "praise until
they praise" and "worship until they worship."

Use musical transitions which lead from song to song in a medley. Usually,
our pianist does this, or I will use guitar to do it. This keeps up the
"musical steam." This often requires the ability of the musicians to improvise
a modulation (change of key).

Find familiar and appropriate hymn tunes for unfamiliar texts, such as
metrical Psalms.

Use choruses and praise songs that are grounded in Scripture and fit within
the Concert of Praise. These add musical freshness and very often a much
more personal text ("I -- You") to facilitate heart praise and prayer.

Stylistically, I try to use different kinds of music style in an
effort to speak the whole congregation's musical heart language. This varies
from congregation to congregation.

We have a great heritage of classical hymns that, for the most part reflect
sound theology. They are to be valued in that they are textually sound
and musically familiar.

We have an explosion of praise and worship choruses that express biblical
truth if not a specific biblical text. They are to be valued for their
freshness, musically, and their first and second person ("I love You, Lord")
language.

Most of the evangelical church has neglected singing the Psalms. The Concert
of Praise structure is a good format for reclaiming this biblical, historical,
and theological practice. Usually, I will set a metrical Psalm to a familiar
hymn tune (if it is not) which expresses the character of the message.
(7)

Theologically, the leader of a Concert of Praise can truly "lead"
people into the presence of God, by continually pointing to Christ while
leading. Being a worshiper while leading, speaking with enthusiasm and
vigor, and planning God-focused comments to introduce sections of the Concert
of Praise all contribute to a theocentric-Christocentric worship service.

Logistically, the format of a Concert of Praise is flexible.
It could transform the first part of a more traditional worship service
or become its own service (it is the 10:00 a.m. Family Worship Hour in
our church). As is evident in this book, many Concerts of Praise lead naturally
into a missions presentation (Moment for Missions) or the Lord's Supper
or simply congregational sharing and prayer.

2. The "regulative principle" of worship is
the concept of finding biblical warrant for all that forms a part of worship.
It has its roots in Reformation theology and was most definitively articulated
by the Scottish Puritans.

3. For biblical and theological study of the basis
for the Concert of Praise format, see my Toward a Biblical Theology of
Worship and Worship Services.

4. My songs are indicated by the initials (GS);
Dr. Ken Grafton's (elder at ADBC) songs are indicated by (KG). Several
of these are in the Family Worship Songbook and Tape.

5. CCLI may be contacted at 800/234-2446. They
also have a computer program which includes 5000 song texts and information,
Song Select.

6. The name was patterned after David Bryant's
Concert of Prayer ministry and I have greatly benefited from attending
a Concert of Prayer led by Bryant. The title stretches back to Scotland
and found its articulation the writings of Jonathan Edwards and the days
of the Great Awakening in the mid 18th Century when people began to pray
"in concert" (together in different locations at an appointed time for
revival).

7. I have found the metrical Psalms from The Psalter,
1912, to have a lyric quality like classical hymns and easy meters for
finding alternate tunes, although it is out print. Fortunately, many of
these and other fine Psalter settings are in the Trinity Hymnal and the
Trinity Psalter (Great Commission: Grand Rapids, 1994), as well as the
Book of Psalms for Singing (Crown and Covenant: Pittsburgh, 1973). For
more Psalm resources call Crown and Covenant at 412/241-0436.